I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell.

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways... until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else- an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they'd have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and tear and laughing- often all at once!

I know this is like only the 3rd book I've read in the New Year, but I already feel like it has made one of my tops books for this year! A heartbreaking yet beautiful book painted from the perspective of two artistic teenagers seeking love, but at the same time, trying to fix their broken family. I really don't know what I loved more about this book- the story line or the characters.

The story starts off with Noah's perspective at the age of 13. He describes himself as a struggling artist, very sheepish and not very enthusiastic about making friends with the riff-raff of surfboarders. And at his age, he and his twin sister are unmistakably close. His twin sister, on the other hand, narrates the book in her later years at the age of 16 where the two ultimately drift away from each other. At this time in age, she has been accepted to a scholarly art school and is on a journey to find herself and reconnect with her brother. The pair are set on this long journey to find their ways back to each other and figure out what the hell happened in their past life to make them so miserable.

I had two really distinct opinions about this book: 1) Holy crap this book was magnificent touching upon real and troubling aspects in life, but yet talking about finding first love. 2) I hated the book almost to the extent of madness because things hadn't turned out the way I wanted it to! Let me just say that Jandy Nelson provides her readers with an intriguing story, but stories can only go so far in reality. I'm not satisfied with what's left, and I need more!!!

This book is so well thought out that soon as new events are revealed and the time passes, shit really does go down and the book becomes so much more than a petty contemporary novel. The characters were so compelling.. so soo soo attention-grabbing and pleasing. As a twin myself, I related to both Jude and Noah. I felt that Jude was a lot like me, a weird, quirky teenager who likes dudes on surfboards and has a passion for art, well in my case writing. Noah, on the other hand, was timid and depended on his hobby of art mostly to take him out of that quiet zone. Art, to him, was a way out of the real world and his passageway into a new world, kind of like what reading is to me.

Without the characters, the story itself was intriguing. We have these two twins searching for their true selves and finding their way back to each other when they've been separated for so long. It's kind of like saying a message, "Twins will always be there for each other. Always find each other in the end." The ending was satisfying! I extremely loved the ending and the way the other cleared everything up.

I know this is a pretty long review, but I had just generated so many thoughts and opinions about the book! Thanks for reading and I hope I've encouraged you to read this amazing novel. Go Jandy Nelson, I'm like a huge fan now!

I've not read YA contemporary in a very long while but this seems like something that could get me back into the sub-genre. Love the way you presented the polarising views you had and this review's overall awesomeness.

By the way, thanks for swimmin' by my blog and for your kind words! You have a pretty neat design yourself (:

I'm glad you enjoyed this! I've heard about this one, but I wasn't really sure if I should check it out or not. But now that I've read your review, I'm convinced that I should read this really soon! Amazing review!

I checked this book out from the library, read like two pages and put it down. I heard great things about it but I felt skeptical even though I've read Jandy Nelson's other book and it was fantastic! Maybe one day. Great review, Alex! :)

I haven't heard of this book but holy shizzles it looks good! I have seen this book around but really wasn't sure but after reading this review is makes me want to go to Waterstones and grab it evn though it is the middle of the night!! Great review :)Naomi @The Perks Of Being A Bookworm

Wow! I didn't know that you had a twin! That's so cool :) I've heard so many good things about this book and I'm so excited to read it :D I'm definitely going to have to read this book soon now. Awesome review, Alex!

OMG I Just started reading I'll Give You The Sun in math class today (no one ever said I was an attentive student) and am LOVING it even though I'm only 30 pages in! Can't wait to discuss more spoilery thoughts w/ u when I'm done

Alexandria

Yingchao "Ying"

Gabrielle "Gabby"

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FTC Disclaimer

Any books that are reviewed on this site are either gifted to me, won in a giveaway, or purchased. All reviews are honest, and are not swayed by anything. I will note if the books have been gifted or won. Most pictures or clip art have been taken off of Google or somewhere else if said otherwise. Said pictures are not mine, and I do not hold ownership over them unless stated otherwise.